Density Waffle vs. Disruptive Technologies' Desk Occupancy Sensor

Choose the output for your workplace decision: compare Density Waffle room-use categories with occupied or unoccupied desk events and the required connections.

Architectural illustration contrasting individual desks with a small group using a meeting room.

Start with Density Waffle when your workplace question extends from desks to phone booths and small meeting rooms. Waffle reports zero, one, two or three-plus people, so you can distinguish an empty room, individual use and group use. Its published product details describe anonymous radar measurement with real-time and historical data.

Disruptive Technologies' Wireless Desk Occupancy Sensor answers a narrower question: is this desk occupied? Its support documentation describes temperature measurements and machine learning used to determine occupied or unoccupied state.

Start with the decision, then choose the output

Consider an office with individual desks and small meeting rooms. At a desk, occupied or unoccupied may answer whether the workstation is being used. In a meeting room, the workplace team may also want to know whether one person is taking a room intended for a group.

A presence signal alone cannot distinguish those two occupied-room cases. Waffle's categories can support that analysis, with three-plus kept as a category rather than treated as an exact headcount. If a decision depends on larger exact counts, ask Density for the appropriate sensor configuration.

Buying question Density Waffle Disruptive Technologies Wireless Desk Occupancy Sensor
What does the sensor report? Zero, one, two or three-plus people Occupied or unoccupied desk state
What powers the sensor? Plug-in power Battery power
How does data reach the cloud? Wi-Fi SecureDataShot radio to a Cloud Connector, then cellular or Ethernet
Where can the data be used? Density's real-time and historical measurement tools; evaluate the proposed Atlas views DT Studio, REST APIs and webhooks

The comparison above concerns the Wireless Desk Occupancy Sensor, not every product in the Disruptive Technologies range. For a mixed office, request a proposal that names the device and output for each type of space.

Plan the connection across the whole rollout

Density's Waffle setup guide describes outlet power through USB-C. The product page specifies dual-band Wi-Fi and WPA2 PSK. Walk the proposed locations with IT: identify power, confirm the network requirements and check the intended measurement zone.

Disruptive Technologies' desk sensor sends data through Cloud Connectors. Its developer device model identifies sensors and Cloud Connectors separately. Include the gateway locations and onward connection in that proposal, alongside the desk sensors themselves.

Compare complete deployments. For Density, account for the required sensors, software, power and network work. For the alternative, include the proposed sensors, gateways, connectivity, software and reporting integration. A sensor purchase price alone will not describe either installed system. The Waffle three-year cost example shows how to separate hardware from recurring software without claiming a fully installed project total.

Review a space decision in the software

Density Atlas brings people counts into building and floor views, operating-hour analysis and downloadable charts. Bring a question you need answered: should you change the mix of individual and group spaces, or did a room change improve use? Ask Density to demonstrate the applicable views with the proposed sensor outputs.

For Disruptive Technologies, review how the desk events appear in DT Studio or the proposed downstream application. Both suppliers should show how their report handles unavailable observations and how an analyst can check the selected space and time window.

For privacy review, inspect the data rather than relying on a broad label. Ask for the actual event fields, access rules and retention settings in each proposal. Keep an employee's identity separate from the workplace question you need to answer. Our camera-free occupancy guide explains the review in more detail.

Begin with the spaces you want to improve

Bring a list of the desks, booths and rooms you want to measure. Agree what each space must report before choosing quantities or comparing quotes.

Book a Density demo, or email sales@density.io with the space decision you want to make.

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